Matches Abroad

Has anyone on here been to matches outside the UK (e.g Bundesliga/Ligue 1 matches) whilst they've been on holiday?

We're planning on taking a weekend away in February, most likely in France, and I was hoping to catch a match at a decent ground, hopefully Parc de Princes as PSG play Montpelier on one of the potential dates.

What are peoples opinions on foreign grounds/atmospheres and how easy is it for tourists to get tickets considering most English clubs require some form of membership scheme?

 

Had tickets for a Deportivo v Real Madrid match once when on holiday but was so ill I had to sell them to someone at my hotel as I couldn't even get out of bed

 

It's easy getting tickets here

 

I went on a German exchange thing in school.

Went to a rival match, derby game.

The German kids were a mix of Shalke and Dortmund fans. I was on the Dortmund side and we lost lol.

Atmosphere was amazing for like 60 mins, after that it went quiet when Shalke started to dominate.

 

Went to watch Barca in 2009, easy getting tickets.

As long as your in the home end you shouldn't need any membership for any team.

 

You went to the Schalke-Dortmund derby?! Would kill to be part of that! Two sets of brilliant fans from what I've heard/seen.

 

Just been on PSG site and from what I gather you need a pass thing which costs €1.69. Not expensive by any stretch of the imagination, but annoying nonetheless

 

Went to the Maracana for Fluminense vs. Flamengo and the atmosphere was unreal!

 

Woah, nice one! How'd you get the opportunity for that?

 

Just went to Brazil, at the same time of their cup final/play-off final (? something like that) and got a ticket. Very lucky really

 

Would love to go and see Barcelona

 

Very lucky!

Have been told that Parc des Princes is not the safest of places to visit, can anyone living in France back this up? I know there's a few people on here who've lived/live over there.

 

apparently there are alot of hooligans.

 

Just been reading up on it and it looks pretty bad for hooliganisms. A lot of their fans are hardcore right-wing and don't like foreigners. And considering it would just be me at the match, who'll probably get lost and need directions... at 11pm... it might not be the smartest move :\

 

Well living in Belgium I've been to many games here , no membership required for anything here.

Watched Juventus - Chievo two years ago as my friend invited me to Italy for the game , pretty sure you need to have a membership there.

 

What's your view on the whole safety aspect of games in France? Or do you not know too much about it?

Just watched a few videos on youtube and they're a pretty brutal bunch in Paris, with fireworks etc. Doesn't bother me too much, but if I was attending with family I wouldn't want to put them through anything like that!

 

Don't know too much about it but thought this might help , even though it's from wikipedia :

Football hooliganism in France is often rooted in social conflict, including racial tension. In the 1990s, fans of Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) fought with supporters from Belgium, England( in 1994, Paris Saint-Germain F.C. hooligans fought running battles with English club Arsenal for 3 hours prior to the uefa cup semi-final in Paris. Over 300 Arsenal hooligans "TheHerd" fought against 1000 French hooligans, it was reported as one of the worst incidents of hooliganism in France), Germany, Italy and Scotland.[13] There is a long standing north/south rivalry between the PSG (representing Paris and by extension northern France) and Olympique de Marseille (representing the South of France) which has encouraged authorities to be extremely mobilized during games between the two teams. Violent fights and post-game riots including car burning, and store windows smashing have been a regular fixture of PSG-OM games. In 2000, the bitter rivalry turned particularly violent.[14] On 24 May 2001, fifty people were injured when fighting broke out at a match between PSG and Turkish club Galatasaray at the Parc des Princes stadium.[15][16] PSG were initially given a record $571,000 fine, but it was reduced on appeal to $114,000. Galatasaray was initially fined $114,000 by UEFA, but it too was eventually reduced to $28,500.[17] In May 2001, six PSG fans from the Supporters Club, were arrested and charged with assault, carrying weapons, throwing items on the pitch and racism. The six were alleged to have deliberately entered a part of the Parc des Princes stadium where French fans of Turkish origin were standing, in order to attack them. The six were banned from all football stadiums for the duration of their trial.[17][18][19]

On 24 November 2006 a PSG fan was shot and killed by police and another seriously injured during fighting between PSG fans and the police. The violence occurred after PSG lost 4-2 to Israeli club Hapoel Tel Aviv at the Parc des Prince in a UEFA Cup match. PSG fans chased a fan of Hapoel Tel Aviv, shouting racist and anti-semitic slogans. A plainclothes police officer who tried to protect the Hapoel fan was attacked, and in the chaos, one fan was shot dead and another seriously injured. In response, the French Interior Minister, Nicolas Sarkozy held a meeting with the president of the French Football League, Frederic Thiriez to discuss racism and violence in football. The director-general of the French police, Michel Gaudin, insisted that measures against football hooliganism had reduced racist incidents to six that season from nineteen in the previous season. Gaudin also stated that 300 known hooligans could be banned from matches.[20] The fan who was shot, was linked with the Boulogne Boys, a group of fans who modelled themselves on British hooligans in the 1980s. The group's name comes from the Kop of Boulogne (KOB), one of the two main home fan stand at the Parc des Princes. The KOB themselves held a silent memorial march attended by 300 and accused the police office of murdering the fan. They cited bias in the French press who had only given a "one-sided" account of the incident.[20] French President Jacques Chirac condemned violence that led up to the shooting, stating that he was horrified by the reports of racism and anti-Semitism. French Prime Minister, Dominique de Villepin called for new, tougher measures to deal with football hooligans. Prosecutors opened an inquiry into the incident, to determine whether the officer involved should face criminal charges.[21][22]

Before a home match against Sochaux on 4 January 2006, two Arab youths were punched and kicked by white fans outside the entrance to the KOB. During the match racist insults were aimed at black players and a PSG player of Indian origin, Vikash Dhorasoo was told to "go sell peanuts in the metro".[13] On 7 March 2006, three PSG supporters were convicted for unfurling a racist banner at a match in February 2005, that was being held as part of an anti-racism campaign. The fans were banned from the stadium for three years, and fined between US$90 and $1,200.[13]

In the recent years, following UK's example, France's legislation has changed, including more and more banning of violent fans from stadiums. The threat of dissolution of fan groups has also tempered the outward rivalry and violence of a number of fans. Known violent fans under ban sentences are to report to the nearest Police station on nights of game, to prove they are not anywhere in proximity to the stadium.

 

wow.

 

All this can be very misleading though as if we search hooliganism in England we'll probably find a list twice as long even though it's perfectly safe to watch a premier league game nowadays.

 

Read exactly that on wikipedia earlier and thought exactly the same: Millwall-West Ham looked terrible, but realistically things like that happen every few years. And Montpelier are not really a big rival of PSG so in theory it should be safe but don't want to take risks based on guess work.